A poet who joined the struggle for independence to the defense of human rights
On April 9, 1989, he was arrested as an organizer of the Tbilisi independence protest and released 45 days later under public pressure.
Merab Kostava was a musician, poet and dissident who fought for Georgian independence and human rights. With Zviad Gamsakhurdia, he built underground publishing and Helsinki human-rights networks that challenged Soviet repression of national and religious life. After years of imprisonment and exile in Siberia, he returned in 1987 and helped lead the mass independence movement and Tbilisi protests from 1988 onward. He died in a suspicious car crash in 1989 and was later honored by Georgia as a national hero.
Activities and affiliations
Career Timeline
- 1954Co-founded the underground youth group Gorgasliani with Zviad Gamsakhurdia
- 1956–1958First arrested and detained for dissident activity
- 1962–1977Teacher in Tbilisi music schools; pursued musical and literary work
- 1973–1976Founded the Initiative Group for Human Rights and the Georgian Helsinki Group
- 1977–1987Imprisoned and exiled to Siberia on anti-Soviet propaganda charges
- 1987–1989Led the independence movement and organized the April 9, 1989 Tbilisi protest
- 1989Died in a car crash near Boriti
Related historical events
Human-rights organizing, imprisonment and exile
Together with Zviad Gamsakhurdia, Kostava established an initiative group for the defense of human rights in 1973 and helped found the Georgian Helsinki Group in 1976. Through human-rights advocacy and underground publishing, they drew attention to political repression in Georgia. Kostava also helped publish the underground periodical Okros Satsmisi (The Golden Fleece).
Kostava and Gamsakhurdia were arrested in 1977 on charges of “anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda.” In 1978 Kostava was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment and two years’ exile. He served time in prison camps before being sent into exile in the Tomsk region. While in custody, he participated in strikes and hunger strikes and wrote protests; further prosecutions during his imprisonment and exile extended his time under sentence. Pardoned in 1987, he returned to Georgia and resumed his involvement in the independence movement. His record in these years shows how his human-rights advocacy continued through publishing, organization and a long period of imprisonment.